Mendocino County

History

History of Mendocino County California - Alley, Bowen & Co., San Francisco, 1880

GENERAL HISTORY AND SETTLEMENT OF
MENDOCINO COUNTY.

        THE history of any county of California follows so sequentially, and is so closely allied with the history of the Pacific coast in general, and this State in particular, that to commence the chronicling of events from the beginning naturally and properly takes us back to the first discoveries in this portion of the globe, made by the bold old voyageurs who left the known world and the charted seas behind them and sailed out into an unknown, untraversed, unmapped and trackless main, whose mysteries were as great to them as those of that "undiscovered bourne from whence no traveler hath yet returned." Of all of those old Argonauts, it is not now known that any of them ever touched upon the soil of Mendocino county, nor is it at all probable that they did, as there are no harbors along her coast which would afford them any decent and safe anchorage, where they would be free from the many storms that vex the waters of the Pacific, her placid name to the contrary notwithstanding. That several of them sailed close along its borders there can be no doubt, and this is especially true of Sir Francis Drake. What a curious spectacle, and beautiful withal, must the coast of Mendocino have presented at that time. There were teeming thousands of aboriginals within its limits at that time, all of whom, of course, had never seen a ship, and when the news spread inland that such a wonder was visible on the western horizon, how they must have flocked down to the sea-shore to get a glimpse of the white-winged convoy from the land of "The Hereafter," bearing emissaries from the Great Spirit, "Gitchie Manito." And the great redwood forests were probably in their infancy, almost, yet. Three hundred years would make a marked difference in the size of even a redwood, and it is possible that the hills and mountains of this section were comparatively bare at that time. And that same period of time would make a great difference in the configuration of the outline of the coast also. The soft sandstone of which the immediate shore of the ocean is formed is very susceptible to the action of the waves, and it is possible that thousands upon thousands of acres have been washed away since then. It all seems more like a dream than a reality, that these bold men did sail so far away and make such long voyages into the unknown seas. The principal one of these, as far as the Pacific coast is concerned, was Sir Francis Drake, than whom no bolder navigator ever sailed the high seas.

        We will now briefly sketch for the information of the reader how it was that that famous navigator came to these parts. Captain Francis Drake sailed from Plymouth, England, on the thirteenth day of December, A. D. 1577, for the South Sea Islands, having, under his command five vessels, in size between fifteen and one hundred tons; in the largest, the Pelican, afterwards named the Golden Hind he sailed himself, while the men in the whole fleet mustered only one hundred and sixty-six in number. On December 25, 1577, he sighted the coast of Barbary, and on the 29th the Cape Verde Islands, thence sailing across the almost untraveled bosom of the broad Atlantic, he made the coast of Brazil on the 5th of April, and entering the Rio de la Plata, parted company with two of his vessels, which, however, he afterwards met, and taking from them their provisions and men turned them adrift. On the 29th of May he entered the port of St. Julian, where he lay for two months taking in stores; on the 20th of August he entered the Straits of Magellan; on the 25th of September he passed out of them, having with him only his own ship, and thus handed his name to posterity as the first Englishman to voyage through that bleak and tempestuous arm of the sea. On the 25th of November he arrived at Macao, now a Portuguese settlement on the southern coast of China, which he had appointed as a place of rendezvous in the event of his ships being separated; but Captain Winter, his vice-admiral, had repassed the straits and returned to England. Drake thence continued his voyage along the coast of Chili and Peru, taking all opportunities of seizing Spanish ships, and attacking them off shore, till his men were satiated with plunder. Here he contemplated a return to England, but fearing the storm-lashed shores of Magellan, and the possible presence of a Spanish fleet, he determined to search for a northern connection between the two vast oceans, similar to that which he knew to exist in the southern extremity of the continent. He, therefore, sailed along the coast upwards in quest of such a route. When he started the season was yet young, still the historian of the voyage says that on June 3, 1579, in latitude forty-two, now the southern line of the State of Oregon, the crew complained bitterly of the cold, while the rigging of the ship was rigidly frozen, and again, in latitude forty-four "their hands were benumbed, and the meat was frozen when it was taken from the fire." With these adversities to contend against, it is no wonder then that he resolved to enter the first advantageous anchorage he should find. On June 5th they sailed in shore, and brought-to in a harbor, which proving unadvantageous through dense fogs and dangerous rocks, he once more put to sea, steering southward for some indentation in the coast line, where he should be safe. This they found on June 17, 1579, within thirty-eight degrees of the equator.

        There seems to have been a very different state of weather existing in those days from that prevalent in the same latitudes at the present time, and many attempts have been made to harmonize those statements with what it is reasonable to suppose was the truth. First of all the statements of this chronicler, although a Reverend gentleman, must be taken cum grano salis. He was sure that no one could dispute his statements, and he was doubtless loth to give this "New Albion" the credit of having a climate that would more than vie with "Old Albion." Again it will be remembered that the northwest trade-winds which prevail along the coast are fully as searching and cold as the winter winds, and that to a crew of men just from under a tropical sun, it would prove doubly piercing, and they doubtless thought these results of cold should occur even if they did not. Again there was a legend among the old Indians along this coast that there was once a year when snow fell in mid-summer. Now such a climatic somersault may have possibly occurred, and the condition of the weather been just as described.

        But be that as it may, the truth that Drake did effect a landing in a "fair and good" bay stands out boldly and unimpeachably, and to locate the place is the subject now in hand. Authorities differ widely in regard to the matter, and thorough research fails to establish satisfactorily to all the exact situation of that body of water which should be called Drake's bay. From time immemorial it was thought that the present Bay of San Francisco must have been the place, and all men of thirty years of age and older will remember the statement in the old school history to the effect that the first white men to sail into the Bay of San Francisco were Sir Francis Drake and his crew. Franklin Tuthill, in his "History of California," maintains that ground and says: "Its (San Francisco bay) latitude is thirty-seven degrees, fifty-nine minutes, to which that given by Drake's chronicler is quite as near as those early navigators with their comparatively rude instruments were likely to get. The cliffs about San Francisco are not remarkably white, even if one notable projection inside the gate is named 'Lime Point;' but there are many white mountains both north and south of it, along the coast, and Drake named the whole land—not his landing place alone—New Albion. They did not go into ecstasies about the harbor—they were not hunting harbors, but fortunes in compact form. Harbors, so precious to the Spaniards, who had a commerce in the Pacific to be protected, were of small account to the roving Englishman. But the best possible testimony he could bear as to the harbor's excellence were the thirty-six days he spent in it. The probabilities are, then, that it was in San Francisco bay that Drake made himself at home. As Columbus, failing to give his name to the continent he discovered, was in some measure set right by the bestowal of his name upon the continent's choicest part, when poetry dealt with the subject, so to Drake, cheated of the honor of naming the finest harbor on the coast, is still left a feeble memorial, in the name of a closely adjoining dent in the coast line. To the English, then, it may be believed belongs the credit of finding San Francisco bay."

        The question which has occupied historians for many years, and which has been asserted by them with didactic force, is that the inlet then visited by Drake is the Bay of San Francisco. This statement of the earlier historiographer was first refuted by the Baron Von Humboldt, who maintained that the harbor then visited by Drake was called by the Spaniards, "Puerto de Bodega," yet how it could have borne this name then is hard to realize, seeing that it was not until nearly two centuries thereafter (in 1775) that the port was visited by Lieutenant Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra, who named the place after himself.

        But why go searching up and down the coast trying to locate the place either in latitude thirty-seven degrees, fifty-nine minutes, or in thirty-eight degrees, ten minutes, when there is a bay which answers all the requirements of the description given of it, located "within thirty-eight degrees towards the line?" In the bay which lies in the curve in the coast under the lee of Point Reyes, and which is marked on the modern maps as Drake's bay, is to be found that place. The latitude given by the United States Government for the light-house located on the extreme southwestern pitch of Point Reyes is 37°, 59', 36", which corresponds with the figures taken from the log-book of the Golden Hind to within sixteen seconds, which is quite close enough for a calculation made by "those early navigators with their comparatively rude instruments." But is it not reasonable to suppose that a man who had followed the sea the major portion of his lifetime, and was at present sailing where no man had ever been before, and who, at that time had his head full of a project to circumnavigate the world, would be able to take an observation and come within a small fraction of seconds of his exact latitude? It would seem to be presuming very much upon his ignorance to think otherwise.

        Having established the fact that there is a bay in the very identical latitude named in Drake's chart as the place where he landed, let us look still further into the matter and see what facts can be adduced to farther substantiate the assertion that this bay fills all the requirements of the one described by Rev. Mr. Fletcher. First of all comes an old Indian legend, which came down through the Nicasios to the effect that Drake did land at this place. Although they have been an interior tribe ever since the occupation by the Spaniards, and doubtless were at that time, it still stands to reason that they would know all about the matter. If the ship remained in the bay for thirty-six days, it is reasonable to suppose that a knowledge of its presence reached every tribe of Indians within an area of one hundred miles, and that the major portion of them paid a visit to the bay to see the "envoys of the Great Spirit," as they regarded the white seamen. One of these Indians, named Theognis, who is reputed to have been one hundred and thirty-five years old when he made the statement, says that Drake presented the Indians with a dog, some young pigs, and seeds of several species of grain. Some biscuit were also given to them, which they planted, believing, in their simple ignorance, that they would spring to life and bear similar bread. The Indians also state that some of Drake's men deserted him here, and, making their way into the country, became amalgamated with the aboriginals to such an extent that all traces of them were lost, except possibly a few names which are to be found among the Indians, "Winnemucca," for instance, is a purely Celtic word, and the name " Nicasio," " Novato," and others are counterparts, with slight variations, of names of places in the island of Cyprus. There is also another tradition, which, if true, would put the matter of Drake's entrance into San Francisco bay forever at rest, which is to the effect that at the time of his visit to this coast, the Golden Gate was closed with a wall of adamantine rock, and was only opened some years later by a mighty earthquake. It is stated that the waters of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers passed to the ocean through the Pajaro valley previous to this eruption. There is a bare possibility of this being true, and if so the oft asked question, how could Drake sail so near to the great Golden Gate entrance and not discover it is readily answered. Of course all these traditions must be taken for what they are worth, but it does seem that they go to strengthen the idea that Drake landed at Point Reyes.

        But there are facts which go to prove the case other than mere Indian legends. Titus Fey Cronise, in his admirable work entitled "The Natural Wealth of California," says: "It is clearly settled that the place where he (Drake) landed is near Point de los Reyes. The locality will probably be ever known hereafter as Drake's bay. The most conclusive argument that could be advanced to prove that he did not discover the Bay of San Francisco is found in the name he gave the country—New Albion. There is nothing about the entrance to this bay to call up images of the white cliffs of old England, so dear to the hearts of the mariners of that country. Its beetling rocks, which must have been additionally dark and dreary at the season of the year when the great navigator saw them—neither green with the verdure of spring, nor russet by the summer's heat; while near Point de los Reyes there is sufficient whiteness about the cliffs which skirt the shore to attract attention, and as it is 'out of the fullness of the heart the mouth speaketh,' the ' bold Briton,' longing for home, may have pictured to his mind's eye' some resemblance to Old Albion. Besides, Drake lay thirty-six days at anchor, which it would have been impossible for so experienced a sailor to have done, had it been in our glorious bay, without being impressed with its great importance as a harbor, on a coast so destitute of such advantages as this; but he makes no allusion to any feature traceable in our bay. He never had the honor of seeing it." In this connection it may be further stated that the headland forming the point is composed of granite, which may have presented, at that time, a white or greyish color, and this appearance is still perceptible at certain angles of the sun's rays. It is urged that the bay at Point Reyes would afford no shelter from a southeast storm, and hence could not be the "good harbor" spoken of by Drake's chronicler; but it must be remembered that he was there in the month of June, and that at that time of the year all the winds are from the northwest, and no more secure anchorage from winds from that direction can be found along the coast than is to be had under the lee of Punta de los Reyes.

        Summed up then the matter stands as follows: Favoring the idea that Drake's and San Francisco bay are one is a general sweeping statement, based upon no proofs, and only attempted to be sustained by those who dislike to acknowledge that the best harbor along the whole coast line was the last one to be discovered, or who wish to give to England's navigator the honor of the discovery. On the other hand, pointing to what is now known as Drake's bay as the place, stands, firstly, the indisputable evidence of the log-book and chart made by Drake himself, which locates the place to within sixteen seconds, or within one-fourth of a mile; secondly, the traditions among the people with whom he met while here, and thirdly, all that can be said in favor of the bay of San Francisco can be as justly and truthfully said of Drake's bay. Therefore, it seems reasonable to conclude from the evidence adduced that to the present Drake's bay belongs the honor of being the one in which that famous navigator spent his time while ashore in California.

        On the 22d of July, after having repaired his ship and doubtless taken on board a goodly supply of fresh meat and water, Drake set sail for England going by way of the Cape of Good Hope, and arriving in Plymouth, November 3, 1580, being gone about two years and ten months. He was the first Englishman who circumnavigated the globe, and was the first man who ever made the entire voyage in the same vessel. He was graciously received by the Queen (Elizabeth) and knighted. She also gave orders for the preservation of his ship, the Golden Hind, that it might remain a monument to his own and his country's glory. At the end of a century it had to be broken up, owing to decay. Of the sound timber a chair was made, which was presented by Charles II. to the Oxford University. Sir Francis Drake died on board ship, at Nombre de Dios, in the West Indies, January 28, 1595.

        But there is quite an amount of historical interest attached to this bay aside from the fact that it was the locale of Drake's sojourn, and we append. the following more on account of this peculiar interest, than from the fact that they refer to, or have any direct relation with Mendocino county. In 1595, Sebastian Cermenon, while on a voyage from Manilla to Acapulco, was wrecked near Punta de los Reyes. This was doubtless the first shipwreck which ever occurred on the California coast. Nothing is known of the fate of the crew, but evidently they, or a portion of them at least, reached Acapulco or some other Spanish seaport and reported the wreck.

        In 1602, General Sebastian Viscaiño, under orders from Philip III. of Spain, made an exploration of the coast of Upper California, in the course of which he discovered the harbor of San Diego on the 10th of November. After remaining a few days he proceeded to the north, and on December 16th discovered the Bay of Monterey, which he named in honor of Gaspar de Zunniga, Count de Monte Rey, the then Viceroy of Mexico. It was at first called the Port of Pines. We now come to a very peculiar entry in his diary, or log-book, which is as follows: "In twelve days after leaving Monterey, a favorable wind carried the ship past the port of San Francisco, but she afterwards put back into the port of Francisco." At a first glance this would seem to point to the present bay of that name, and would seem to rob Governor Portala and his band of adventurers of the honor of either discovering or naming the bay; and instead of its being named after the Jesuitic patron saint in 1769, it was known by that name more than a century and a half previous. But let us peruse this diary still further. Taking up the thread where it was dropped above, it states : "She anchored January 7, 1603, behind a point of land called Punta de los Reyes, where there was a wreck." This, then, establishes the exact location of the "port of San Francisco" mentioned above, which is the same as that of the present Drake's bay, and was doubtless one and the same, for the wreck which he saw could have been none other than that of the ship lost by Sebastian Cermenon in 1595, "near Punta de los Reyes," But there is still other evidence that Drake's bay and the "port of San Francisco" are the same. A map was published in Europe in 1545, three years after the voyage of Rodriguez Cabrillo, in which a San Francisco bay is mentioned, and also the Farralones, which islands were named by Cabrillo after his pilot, Farralo. Now, it is well known that this famous navigator did not enter the present Bay of San Francisco; therefore, if the Bay of San Francisco and the Farralone islands are marked on this map as conterminous, it is more than reasonable to conclude that the bay referred to is none other than the present Drake's bay, which opens out directly towards the Farralones, and it is quite probable that Cabrillo himself gave the name of San Francisco to it. There is also a work extant, written by Cabrera Bueno, and published in Spain in 1734, which contains instructions to navigators for reaching the "Punta de los Reyes, and entering the port of San Francisco." This would go to show that the two places were contiguous, and it is more than likely that these "instructions" were compiled from the map mentioned above and similar ones, on all of which the port of San Francisco was marked, "behind a point of land called Punta de los Reyes." It may be further stated, that the Russian navigators recognized the "port of San Francisco" to be separate and distinct from the present Bay of San Francisco; for when, in 1812, Baranoff, chief agent of the Russian-American fur company, asked permission from the Governor of California to erect a few houses and leave a few men at Bodega bay, he designated that place as "a little north of the port of San Francisco." San Francisco bay had been visited before that by the Russians, and was known to be nearly sixty miles from Bodega bay; hence, we must conclude that they recognized some place quite near to the latter place as the "port of San Francisco," which place could be none other than that laid down on the charts spoken of above, which has been proven conclusively to be the Drake's bay of to-day.

        There are several accounts as to how the headland came to be christened Punta de los Reyes, one of which is to the effect that it being the boldest and most prominent point met with from Point Conception to Cape Mendocino, was called the King of the Points; but the construction of the name does not bear that version out. Its name, literally translated, is the "Point of the King," It is also stated, that in sailing by the headland, just from the proper point of view, a throne may be seen in the granite cliffs, with a king seated upon it; hence, the title, Point of the King. This name was conferred upon the point by General Sebastian Viscaiño in 1602, who, it will be remembered, was driven past the point by a southeastern wind, and afterwards turned about and anchored behind the point of land in Drake's bay. Hence, it would seem very probable that as they passed the point they observed this striking resemblance in the cliffs, and at once christened it "Punta de los Reyes."

        On September 17, 1776, the presidio and mission of San Francisco were founded on what was then the extreme boundary of California, the former in a manner being a frontier command, having a jurisdiction which extended to the furthest limit northwards of Spanish discovery. How the arts and sciences have bridged time! What do these comparatively few years in a nation's life show? They speak for themselves! San Francisco to-day is a marvel! Short though her life has been, she has worked wonders; to-day she is the center of civilization as regards the western portion of this vast continent; she is the heart which sends pulsations through the different commercial arteries of the coast; the throbbings of her veins are felt from Behring's straits to those of Magellan; across the oceans the influence of her system is known, while at home she is looked up to as the youth is whose care in the future will be the old, the sick and the maimed.

        And thus we find ourselves, in the first days of the Spanish regime, which was destined to play such an important part in the history of our fair State. After establishing the presidio at San Francisco, they began to advance to the northward still, step by step, establishing missions at San Rafael, Sonoma, and attempting to locate a colony near where Healdsburg now stands. As the entire section of country embraced between the Sacramento river and the Pacific ocean and lying north of the bay, was considered and designated as one district—Sonoma—by the Spanish and Mexicans, the following history of the first house built in the district will not be without interest.

        To go back to the building of the first house in this section would bring us down several years into the last century. The old settlers who have passed along the road from San Rafael to Petaluma, will remember the old adobe house which stood just at the southeast corner of the house now occupied by Dr. Burdell on the Olompali ranch. This house and the one in which the Doctor resides at the present time, have stood there so long that the "memory of man runneth not to the contrary." It is to be presumed that the first mentioned of these buildings was erected prior to the second, from the fact of its decay. An Indian legend which still clings about the place, coming down through the generations of aboriginals, who have long since shuffled this mortal coil and passed to the happy hunting grounds of "Gitchie Manito," to the early Spanish dwellers in the land, and from them to the present generation, relates that in the long, long ago there was a great and powerful tribe of Indians who dwelt at this place, known as the Olompali. Here a beautiful stream of living water burst as it were from the hill-sides and went dashing down the valley, across the level plain skirting the bay, and lost itself in the ceaseless ebb and flow of the tide upon the sandy beach. This was before the days of salt marshes around the head of San Pablo bay; and the sparkling, rippling wavelets of that " Gitchie Gumme" danced  merry glee over its smooth surface and were at last stranded on the beach of glittering sands which begirt the shore. On the banks of this stream there were immense " kjöokkenmöddings," or shell deposits, covering an area of several acres, and having an unknown depth, which would indicate that these people have lived here from time immemorial. In the depths of these shell mounds are found stone implements of a character unknown to the later generation of aboriginals. Stone calumets have been found there, and it has also been noticed that there are three distinct styles of arrow heads buried in these shell mounds, varying according to the depth at which they are deposited. Hence it may be reasonably inferred that this place was the camping ground of a people which far antedates the California Indian. Who that people was or what they were like is not the object of this sketch. The legend above referred to relates still further that about the time of the erection of the mission at San Francisco, a party of Spaniards crossed the straits at what is now known as Lime Point and traveled northward. It was late in the season and they found no streams of running water until they arrived at Olompali. Here they were kindly received by the natives, and all their wants supplied as far as it lay in their hands to do so. The party was so well entertained that the leaders decided to remain there for a fortnight and recruit their horses, and get thoroughly rested preparatory to proceeding on their arduous journey; and in return for the kindness received, they taught the Indians how to make adobe brick and construct a house. Let us see now how fully this legend is sustained by facts mentioned in history. The party sent out to establish the mission at San Francisco arrived at that place June 27, 1776. There was a store-ship containing supplies dispatched so as to arrive in the bay about the same time, but adverse winds delayed it for a protracted period. At length the party decided to construct a presidio pending the arrival of the vessel, which seemed essential to the establishment of the mission. On the 18th of August the store-ship sailed into the harbor, and the mission was dedicated October 9th of that year. Father Gleeson, in his "History of the Catholic Church in California," says : "While waiting for the arrival of the vessel with the stores, they occupied themselves in examining the bay and visiting the natives at their respective rancherias, by whom they were favorably received." After the arrival of the vessel another short delay occurred, of which he says: "This interval they employed in surveying the harbor, which resulted in the knowledge of there being no outlet, except that by which they entered." Father Palou, the chronicler of Father Junipera Serra, and the first historian of California, says: "After the presidio and before the mission was established (in San Francisco), an exploration of the interior was organized, as usual, by sea (the bay) and land." It will be seen by the above, which is authority that is perfectly reliable, that an expedition was sent out by sea and land from San Francisco at the time of the locating of the mission and presidio there, and that they visited the rancherias of the natives in the interior, all of which not only goes to corroborate the statements made by the Indians, but fixes the fact beyond a doubt; hence we may reasonably conclude that, if the truth of the legend has been so far established as to prove that a visit was made them at this time by the Spaniards, then the remainder of it is true concerning the instructions given in the art of brick-making and house-building.

        The older of these two adobe houses was sixteen by twenty, with walls eight feet high and three feet thick, covered with a thatched roof made of tules through the center of which there was a hole for the egress of smoke, and containing only one room. It was evidently built by the father of Camillo Ynitia, the last chief of the tribe. The second house was much larger, being twenty-four by fifty-six outside, and containing three rooms; and, from the fact of its well-preserved condition, it is quite probable that it was constructed at a much more recent date; and, probably, by Camillo Ynitia himself. The inner sides of the walls of the small house were completely covered with soot, indicating that it had, probably, been used for cooking purposes during all the years that followed the completion of the larger one, while the latter had been used chiefly as a house to live in. When the old house was torn down the brick, from the very heart of the wall, on being subjected to a few showers of rain sprang into life, as it were, with a heavy and luxuriant growth of filaree grass, wild oats, and burr-clover. This would seem to go to disprove the very prevalent belief that wild oats are the offspring of tame stock brought here by the mission fathers; for it is evident that the country was well seeded with them, else they would not have been so largely incorporated in those brick; and, moreover, the straw used in their manufacture was wild oat straw, therefore, if the wild oat is not an indigenous plant we will have to look to some source far anterior to the missions for its introduction. Might it not have been included in the domestic seeds given the natives by Sir Francis Drake some three hundred years ago? It would seem quite probable.

        Between the time of the tour of discovery around the head of the bay narrated above and the formation of any settlements by the Spaniards in the District of Sonoma, the Russians effected an entrance to the bay now known as Bodega, in Sonoma county, and established a settlement there. This was in 1811, and by the time that the Spaniards had formed the mission at Sonoma, this colony had increased very much in numbers. It was an offshoot from the Alaskan fur colony of that nation; and the prime object of locating here was to prosecute that industry in the mountains and along the streams of California, hence it is naturally to be inferred that they made incursions into all the adjacent country; and the territory now known as Mendocino county was, probably, entirely overrun by them. This is more than probably the case after the location of the Russian headquarters at what is now known as Fort Ross, which lies only a few miles south of the Gualala river. It is not known now that they ever had a settlement in this territory, but that they built huts and spent seasons here, is more then probable; and, therefore, to them may be ascribed the honor of being the first people of any nationality to come among the aboriginals of Mendocino county.

        The mission of San Francisco Solano was established at Sonoma, August 25, 1823, and it was made the headquarters of the Department of Upper California in 1835, with General M. G. Vallejo as commandant, but it was at least ten years later, and presumably more, before the first Spanish settler located in what is now called Mendocino county. To Señor Fernando Feliz belongs this distinction, he having received a grant in the Russian river valley from the Mexican Government as early as 1844. He built an adobe house of goodly proportions, just south of the present site of the town of Hopland, and there he lived that easy, almost Utopian sort of a life so common in that day. That our readers may have a proper idea of what manner of a life these old Spanish rancheros led, we will give a description of an establecimiento: In front of the house was a court-yard of considerable extent, a part of which was sheltered by a porch; here, when the vaqueros had nothing to call them to the field they would pass the day, looking like retainers on a rude court; a dozen or more wild, vicious looking horses, with wooden saddles on their backs, stood ever ready for work, while, lounging about, the vaqueros smoked, played the guitar or twisted a new riata of hide or horse-hair. When the sun gets lower they go to sleep in the shade, while the little horses that remain in the sunshine do the same, apparently, for they shut their eyes and never stir. Presently a vaquero, judging the time by the sun, gets up and yawns, staggers lazily towards his horse, gathers up his riata and twists it about the horn of his saddle—the others, awakening, arise and do the same, all yawning with eyes half open, looking as lazy a set as ever were seen, as indeed they are when on foot. "Hupa Anda !" and away they go in a cloud of dust, splashing through the river, waving their lassoes above their heads with a wild shout, and disappearing from sight almost as soon as they are mounted. The vaquero wants at all times to ride at a furious gait, and the eyes of the little horses are open wide enough before they receive the second prod from the iron rowels of their rider's spurs.

        In the olden and balmy days of the Spanish-Mexican regime, the summa summarum of the dolce far niente style of life of that age could be found at this ranch. Cattle roamed at will over the hills and through the valleys, one of which was slaughtered daily to supply the demands of the establecimiento. Horses in great numbers bore the ranch brand, and extensive flocks of sheep and herds of swine formed a part of the princely possessions of the Feliz estate. Looms and spinning wheels were brought into requisition, and the wool grown upon the sheep was washed, carded, spun and woven into cloth, beneath the shelter of the ranch houses. The hides of the cattle were tanned, and boots and shoes made of the leather. The seasons came and went unheeded, and life was to those old Spaniards a near approach to the Utopian's dream. A summer's sun, set in a bright ethereal empyrean, across whose rays not even a hand breadth's cloud ever passed to cast its shadow on the world, showered down a golden flood of radiant light to bless the happy days, while the winter's rains fell in copious showers, causing the grass to spring to luxuriant life over all the hills and dales, spreading as it were an emerald tapestry on every hand, full dainty enough for tread of fairy feet. But the dream ended, and sad indeed the awakening. From the lap of luxuriance they fell into the arms of poverty, dying sad and broken­hearted. Gone were their flocks and herds, and the land on which they had roamed. Life which had been to them a hey-day of sunshine and gladness was robbed of all that went to make it worth the living, and to many of them death was a welcome guest, lifting the burdens and cares which had gradually settled upon their shoulders.

        Let us here introduce the following interesting resume of the experiences of the first of America's sons who visited California, which is abridged from an article that appeared in the Pioneer:--

        "The first Americans that arrived in California, overland, were under the command of Jedediah S. Smith, of New York. Mr. Smith accompanied the first trapping and trading expedition, sent from St. Louis to the head waters of the Missouri by General Ashley. The ability and energy displayed by him, as a leader of parties engaged in trapping beaver, were considered of so much importance by General Ashley that he soon proposed to admit him as a partner in the Rocky Mountain Fur Company. The proposal was accepted and the affairs of the concern were subsequently conducted by the firm of Ashley & Smith until 1828, when Mr. William L. Sublette and Mr. Jackson, who had been engaged in the same business in the mountains, associated themselves with Mr. Smith, and bought out General Ashley. They continued the business under the name of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company until the summer of 1830, when they retired from the mountains, disposing of their property and interest in the enterprise to Messrs. Fitzpatrick, Bridger, Solomon, Sublette, and Trapp. Mr. W. L. Sublette subsequently re-engaged in the business.

        "In the spring of 1826 Mr. Smith, at the head of a party of about twenty-five men, left the winter quarters of the company to make a spring and fall hunt. Traveling westerly he struck the source of the Green river, which he followed down to its junction with Grand river, where the two form the Colorado. He there left the river and, traveling westerly, approached the Sierra Nevada of California. When traveling in that direction in search of a favorable point to continue his exploration towards the ocean, he crossed the mountains and descended into the great valley of California near its southeastern extremity; thus being not only the first American, but the first person who, from the east or north, had entered the magnificent valleys of the San Joaquin and Sacramento, or who had ever seen or explored any of the rivers falling into the Bay of San Francisco.

        "The following winter and spring he prosecuted with success the catching of beaver, on the streams flowing into the lakes of the Tulares, on the San Joaquin and tributaries, as also on some of the lower branches of the Sacramento. At the commencement of summer, the spring hunt having closed, he essayed to return, by following up the American river; but the height of the mountains, and other obstacles which he encountered, induced him to leave the party in the valley during the summer. He accordingly returned; and, having arranged their summer quarters on that river, near the present town of Brighton, prepared to make the journey, accompanied by a few well-tried and hardy hunters, to the summer rendezvous of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, on the eastern slope of the Rocky mountains. Selecting favorite and trusty horses and mules, Mr. Smith, with three companions, left camp to undertake one of the most arduous and dangerous journeys ever attempted. Ascending the Sierra Nevada, he crossed it at a point of elevation so great, that on the night of the 27th of June, most of his mules died from intense cold. He descended the eastern slope of the mountains, and entered upon the thirsty and sterile plains that were spread out before him in all their primitive nakedness; but his horses were unable to accomplish the journey.

        "Next to the Bedouin of the great African desert, if not equally with him, the trapper of the wilds of the American continent worships the noble horse, which not only proudly carries his owner up to the huge bison, when hunger presses the hunter, and swiftly flees from the overpowering horde of savages who seek his life; but while the solitary, benighted, and fatigued hunter snatches a few shreds of repose, stands a trusty sentinel, with ears erect and penetrating eye, to catch the first movement of every object within its view, or with distended nostril, to inhale the odor of the red man with which the passing breeze is impregnated, and arouse his affectionate master. What, then, were the feelings of these men, as they saw their favorite steeds, which had long been their companions, and had been selected for their noble bearing, reeling and faltering on those inhospitable plains. Still worse when they were compelled to sever the brittle thread of life, and dissolve all those attachments and vivid hopes of future companionship and usefulness by the use of the rifle, which, at other times, with unerring aim, would have sent death to the man who should attempt to deprive them of their beloved animals.

        "They hastily cut from the lifeless bodies a few pieces of flesh, as the only means of sustaining their own existence; and in this manner they supported life until they passed the desert and arrived on foot at the rendezvous.

        "A party was immediately organized, and, with such supplies as were required for the company, left for California, Mr. Smith hastening his departure. Traveling south, to avoid in some degree the snow and cold of winter, he descended and crossed Grand river, of the Colorado, and, continuing southwesterly, he approached the Colorado river from the east, near the camp of the Mohave Indians. In the attempt to transport his party, by means of rafts, over this river, in which he was aided by the Mohaves, who professed great friendship and hospitality, he was suddenly surprised by the treacherous Indians, who, upon a pre-concerted signal, simultaneously attacked the men who were on each bank of the river, and upon a raft then crossing, massacred the party, with the exception of two men and Mr. Smith, who escaped, and after great suffering arrived at the mission of San Gabriel, in California. They were immediately arrested by the military officer at that place, because they had no passports. This functionary forwarded an account of the arrival and detention of the foreigners to the commandant of San Diego, who transmitted the same to General Echandia, then Governor and Commander-in-chief of California.

        "After a harassing delay Mr. Smith was permitted to proceed to Monterey, and appear before the governor. Through the influence and pecuniary assistance of Captain John Cooper, an American, then resident of Monterey, he was liberated, and having procured such supplies as could be obtained in that place, partially on account of beaver-fur to be sent from the summer quarters on the Sacramento river, and partly on credit, he hired a few men and proceeded to the camp of the party which he had previously left in the Sacramento valley. After forwarding the fur to Monterey, he traveled up the Sacramento, making a most successful hunt up this river and its tributaries within the valley. Ascending the western sources of the Sacramento, he passed Shasta mountain, when he turned westerly and arrived on the coast, which he followed south to the Umpqua river. While Mr. Smith and two men were in a canoe, with two or three Indians, engaged in examining the river to find a crossing, his camp was unexpectedly surprised by the Indians, who had, up to this time, shown the most friendly disposition, and the entire party, with the exception of one man, were murdered. Mr. Smith and the men with him in the canoe, after wandering many days in the mountains, where they were obliged to secrete themselves by day and travel by night, to avoid the Indians, who were scouring the country in pursuit, succeeded in escaping from their vicinity, and arrived at Fort Vancouver, a post of the Hudson Bay Company, on the Columbia river. The man who escaped from the camp at the massacre of the party was badly wounded, and without arms to defend himself or procure food, succeeded in sustaining life and making his way through many vicissitudes for a period of thirty-eight days, when he reached Fort Vancouver. On his arrival there Mr. Smith contracted with the superintendent to sell him the large quantity of fur which had fallen into the hands of the Indians on the Umpqua, provided he would assist in recovering it, and to furnish a guide to lead a trapping party into the Sacramento valley. A company was fitted out under the command of Lieutenant McLeod, which proceeded to the scene of disaster, and after recovering the fur, with which Mr. Smith returned to the fort, continued south, under the guidance of one of Smith's men, to the Sacramento valley, where a most valuable hunt was made. A large number of horses from California was also obtained, with which the party attempted to return in the fall of 1828. In crossing the mountains they were overtaken by a violent snow-storm, in which they lost all their horses. From the hasty and unsuitable manner in which they attempted to secrete their valuable stock of fur from the observation and discovery of the Indians or other body of trappers, it was found in a ruined state by a party sent to convey it to the fort in the following spring, and McLeod was discharged from the service of the company for his imprudence in attempting to cross the mountains so late in the fall.

        "Another band was fitted out from Fort Vancouver, by the Hudson Bay Company under Captain Ogden, of New York, who for some time had been in the employ of that corporation, with which Mr. Smith left the fort on his final departure from the Pacific shore, for the rendezvous of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company. This company traveled up Lewis river, in the direction of the South Pass, when Mr. Smith pursued his journey with a few men. Captain Ogden turned south, and traveling along the eastern base of the Sierra Nevada, entered the valley of the Tulares, on the trail which Smith had made in 1826. He arrived in the valley after McLeod had left on his ill-fated journey over the mountains, where he spent the winter of 1828-9, and the following summer returned to the Columbia river with a valuable hunt.

        "One of the survivors of the massacre of Smith's party on the Rio Colorado remained in California. He was a blacksmith by trade, and obtained employment at the missions of San Gabriel and San Luis Rey. His name was Galbraith, and while in the mountains previous to his advent to California, was recognized as the most fearless of that brave class of men with whom he was associated. His stature was commanding, and the Indians were awed by his athletic and powerful frame, while the display of his Herculean strength excited the surprise of all. Many were the incidents that occurred in California during his residence, of which he was the principal actor. On one occasion, while employed at the mission of San Luis Rey, he became riotous while under the exciting influence of aguadiente, and was warned that unless he conducted himself with greater propriety it would be necessary to confine him in the guard-house. This served to exasperate instead of to quiet his unruly passions. A corporal with two men were ordered to arrest Galbraith. On their arrival at the shop, they found the follower of Vulcan absorbed in anathemas, which he was pouring forth in rapid succession against the Reverend Father, soldiers, and neophytes. Having delivered himself he inquired what they wanted. On the corporal's replying that he had been sent to conduct him to the guard-house, Galbraith seized a sledge, and swaying it above his head rushed upon the soldiers, who, intimidated at the gigantic size of the blacksmith, whose broad and deep chest was swelling with infuriated passion, horror-stricken fled in dismay. With uplifted hammer he pursued them across the court of the mission, and to the guard­house in front of the mission, where the affrighted corporal and soldiers arrived among their comrades, closely followed by the terrific mountaineer, who, alike fearless of Spanish soldiers as he had ever been of Indians, drove the trembling forces, a sergeant and twelve men, to their quarters, where they were imprisoned. He then hastily loaded with grape-shot a fine piece of artillery which stood in front of the quarters, and directing its mouth towards the mission, and gathering up the arms which the soldiers in the confusion had abandoned, he prepared to act as exigencies might require. The priest, seeing the course events were taking, sent a messenger to open communications with the victor, who, from the sudden burst of passion and violent exercise had dispelled the effects of the brandy, and with its removal his choler had subsided.

        "In the early part of 1839 a company was made up in St. Louis, Missouri, to cross the plains to California consisting of D. G. Johnson, Charles Klein, David D. Dutton and William Wiggins. Fearing the treachery of the Indians this little party determined to await the departure of a party of traders in the employ of the American Fur Company, on their annual tour to the Rocky Mountains. At Westport they were joined by Messrs. Wright, Gegger, a Doctor Wiselzenius and his German companion, and Peter Lassen; two missionaries with their wives and hired man, bound for Oregon; a lot of what were termed fur trappers, bound for the mountains, the entire company consisting of twenty-seven men and two women.

        "The party proceeded on their journey and in due time arrived at the Platte river, but here their groceries and breadstuff gave out; happily the country was well stocked with food, the bill of fare consisting henceforward of buffalo, venison, cat-fish, suckers, trout, salmon, duck, pheasant, sage-fowls beaver, hare, horse, grizzly bear, badger and dog. The historian of this expedition thus describes this latter portion of the menu. As much misunderstanding seems to prevail in regard to the last animal alluded to, a particular description of it may not be uninteresting. It is, perhaps, somewhat larger than the ground squirrel of California, is subterranean and gregarious in its habits, living in "villages;" and from a supposed resemblance in the feet, as well as in the spinal termination, to that of the canine family, it is in popular language known as the prairie dog. But in the imposing technology of the mountain graduate it is styled the canes prairie cuss, because its cussed holes so often cause the hunter to be unhorsed when engaged in the chase.

        "After enduring a weary journey, accompanied by the necessary annoyances from treacherous and pilfering Sioux, hail-storms, sand-storms, rain and thunder-storms, our voyageurs arrived at Fort Hall, where they were disappointed at not being able to procure a guide to take them to California. This was almost a death-blow to the hopes of the intrepid travelers; but having learned of a settlement on the Willamette river, they concluded to proceed thither in the following spring, after passing the winter at this fort. Here Klein and Doctor Wiselzenius determined to retrace their steps; thus the party was now reduced to five in number—Johnson going ahead and leaving for the Sandwich Islands. In September, 1839, the party reached Oregon, and sojourned there during the winter of that year; but in May, 1840, a vessel arrived with missionaries from England, designing to touch at California on her return, Mr. William Wiggins, now of Monterey, the narrator of this expedition, and his three companions from Missouri, among whom was Mr. David D. Dutton, now a resident of Vacaville township, in Solano county, got on board; but Mr. W., not having a dollar, saw no hope to get away; as a last resort, he sent to one of the passengers, a comparative stranger, for the loan of sixty dollars, the passage-money, when, to his great joy and surprise, the money was furnished—a true example of the spontaneous generosity of those early days. There were three passengers from Oregon, and many others who were 'too poor to leave.' In June they took passage in the Lausenne, and were three weeks in reaching Baker's bay, a distance of only ninety miles. On July 3d, they left the mouth of the Columbia, and after being out thirteen days, arrived at Bodega, now in Sonoma county, but then a harbor in possession of the Russians. Here a dilemma arose of quite a threatening character. The Mexican commandant sent a squad of soldiers to prevent the party from landing, as they wished to do, for the captain of the vessel had refused to take them farther on account of want of money. At this crisis the Russian governor arrived, and ordered the soldiers to leave, be shot down, or go to prison; they, therefore, beat a retreat. Here were our travelers at a stand-still, with no means of proceeding on their journey, or of finding their way out of the inhospitable country; they, therefore, penned the following communication to the American consul, then stationed at Monterey :-

"PORT BODEGA, July 25, 1840.

"To the American Consul of California‑

        "DEAR SIR: We, the undersigned citizens of the United States, being desirous to land in the country, and having been refused a passport, and been opposed by the Government, we write to you, sir, for advice, and claim your protection. Being short of funds, we are not able to proceed further on the ship. We have concluded to land under the protection of the Russians; we will remain there fifteen days, or until we receive an answer from you, which we hope will be as soon as the circumstances of the case will permit. We have been refused a passport from General Vallejo. Our object is to get to the settlements, or to obtain a pass to return to our own country. Should we receive no relief, we will take up our arms and travel, consider ourselves in an enemy's country, and defend ourselves with our

guns   

                                                                "We subscribe ourselves, most respectfully,

"DAVID DUTTON,

"JOHN STEVENS,

"PETER LASSEN,

"WM. WIGGINS,

"J. WRIGHT."

        In the first five years of the decade commencing with 1840, there began to settle in the vast California valleys that intrepid band of pioneers who having scaled the Sierra Nevadas with their wagons, trains and cattle, began the civilizing influences of progress on the Pacific coast. Many of them had left their homes in the Atlantic and Southern States with the avowed intention of proceeding direct to Oregon. On arrival at Fort Hall, however, they heard glowing accounts of the salubrity of the California climate and the fertility of its soil; they, therefore, turned their heads southward and steered for the wished-for haven. At length, after weary days of toil and anxiety, fatigued and foot-sore, the promised land was gained. And what was it like ? The country, in what valley soever we wot, was an interminable grain-field; mile upon mile, and acre after acre, wild oats grew in marvelous profusion, in many places to a prodigious height—one great, glorious green of wild waving corn—high over head of the wayfarer on foot, and shoulder high with the equestrian; wild flowers of every prismatic shade charmed the eye, while they vied with each other in the gorgeousness of their colors, and blended into dazzling splendor. One breath of wind, and the wide emerald expanse rippled itself into space, while with a heavier breeze came a swell whose rolling waves beat against the mountain sides, and, being hurled back, were lost in the far-away horizon; shadow pursued shadow in a long, merry chase. The air was filled with the hum of bees, the chirrup of birds, and an overpowering fragrance from the various plants weighted the air. The hill-sides, overrun as they were with a dense mass of tangled jungle, were hard to penetrate, while in some portions the deep, dark gloom of the forest trees lent relief to the eye. The almost boundless range was intersected throughout with divergent trails, whereby the traveler moved from point to point, progress being as it were in darkness on account of the height of the oats on either side, and rendered dangerous in the valleys by the bands of untamed cattle, sprung from the stock introduced by the mission fathers. These found food and shelter on the plains during the night; at dawn they repaired to the higher grounds to chew the cud and bask in the sunshine. At every yard coyotes sprang from beneath the feet of the voyageur. The hissing of snakes, the frightened rush of lizards, all tended to heighten the sense of danger, while the flight of quail and other birds, the nimble run of the rabbit, and the stampede of elk and antelope, which abounded in thousands, added to the charm, causing him, be he whosoever he may, pedestrian or equestrian, to feel the utter insignificance of man, the "noblest work of God."

        We now come to the settlement proper of Mendocino county by other than Spanish citizens. John Parker was unquestionably the first man after Fernando Feliz to have a habitation within the present limits of the county. He came into the Russian River valley with a band of cattle owned by James Black, of Marin county, in either 1850 or 1851, and built a block-house on the banks of what is now known as Wilson creek, south of Ukiah a few miles. We will now give the settlement of the county by year and township up to 1860, as far as we have been able to glean it from the sources at our command:

        1852.—John Knight came into Sanel township and located on a portion of the Feliz grant. On the coast, in Big River township, Harry Meigs established the first saw-mill in the county, and there came with him J. E. Carlson, W. H. Kelley, J. B. Ford, and Captain D. F. Lansing, who became actual settlers. A man by the name of Kasten was living there at the time, and it is reported that he came in 1850, and it is possible that he antedates John Parker, although there is no certainty about it. The following named gentlemen came into Big River township and located during this year also. William H. Kent, George Hagenmeyer,---- Scharf, G. Hagenmeyer, J. C. Byrnes, Robert White, and J. C. Simpson; Anderson, Walter Anderson, and J. D. Balls.

        1853.—Big River township, A. F. Mahlman; in Little Lake, Alfred E. Sherwood; Calpella, William Potter, and Moses C. Briggs.

        1854.—Big River, G. Canning Smith, L. L. Gray, James Nolan. The following settlers are known to have been located in the respective townships at this time, but the date of their location is unknown: Big River, Frank Farnier (known as Portuguese Frank), Britton B., William, Boggs, and James Greenwood, Charles Fletcher, Manuel Lawrence, Lloyd Bell, Sr., Samuel Bell, Captain Peter Thompson, Captain R. Rundle, and Samuel. Watts; Little Lake, William Frazier.

        1855.—Anderson, John Gschwind and William Prather; Arena, J. A A. Hamilton; Big River, James Townsend; Little Lake, Leonard Dodge, Samuel, Harry S., and Martin Baechtel ; Ukiah, Samuel Lowry.

        1856.—Anderson, James S. Smalley ; Arena, H. O. Irish and William Shoemake; Big River, Silas Coombs and Ruel Stickney; Little Lake, W. Fulwider, J. G. Rawlison, J. W. Morris, and Benjamin Dougherty; Round Valley, Sanders Hornbrooke and D. Lacock; Sand, J. P. Higgins, William Higgins, John Higgins, H. Willard, and James Kenney; Ukiah, A. T. Perkins, John R. Short, Daniel Gobbi, and Pierce Asbill.

        1857.—Anderson, Joseph Rawles; Arena, G. W. Wright, R. W. O'Niel, and T. J. O'Niel; Big River, Thomas Walsh, William Heeser, and E. W. Blair; Calpella, James T. Nuckles, William P. English, C. H. English, B. F. Forsythe, H. P. McGee, Pierce Asbill ; Little Lake, H. Willets, James L. Burger, and Jackson Farley ; Round Valley, Martin Corbett, C. H. Eberle, and Charles H. Diggin ; Sand, A. Snuffin, J. A. Knox, J. McGlashen, and J. W. Daw ; Ukiah, A. Burke, D. C. Crockett, John P. Smith, Edward Cox, John Remstedt, G. B. Mathers, Berry Wright, Thomas F. Beattie, L. M. Ruddick, and William J. Cleveland.

        1858.—Anderson, J. H. Rawles, J. A. Jamison, J. O. McSpadden, and J. McGimpsey; Arena, Cal. Stewart, W. S. Brown, Lewis Morse, O. W. Scott, C. D. Robinson, and Dr. Morse; Big River, H. Severance, R. Kaisen, A. Reeser, T. P. Furlong, J. D. Murray, and Osro Cliff; Calpella, A. C. Perry, Thomas M. O'Conner, James L. Hughes, and Samuel Mewhinney; Little Lake, Philip Upp, William J. Hildreth, A. Redemeyer, James 0. Toney, Seth Toney, J. G. Wilson, and Alfred Requa; Sanel, William E. Parsons, L. F. Long, B. B. Fox, E. H. Duncan, Ashtley Duncan, and Eli Day; Ukiah, N. Bartlett, W. C. Ellege, Samuel Orr, J. M. Standley, G. W. Gibson, Thomas J. Gibson, Robert J. Gibson, A. J. Gibson, M. W. Howard, and J. G. Busch.

        1859.—Anderson, Alex. McDonald, Stephen W. Knowles, John W. McAbee, and J. H. Donohoe; Arena, S. S. Hoyt, C. B. Pease, T. J. Stewart, L. G. Morse, and Samuel McMullen; Big River, N. E. Hoak; Calpella, Ranch Angle, S. Wortemberger, D. Quinliven, I. Y. Griffiths, T. W. Dashiel; Little Lake, William K Willis, William H. White, Benjamin Burns, and James D. Ward; Sanel, J. R. Henry, Dr. H. G. Pike, and William M. Cole; Ukiah, Thomas Harrison, Harrison Standley, and I. C. Reed.

        For a more complete and extensive sketch of the settlement of the county, the reader is referred to the township histories found further on in this volume. It is impossible to make this subject complete in all its details, as so many come and go that a record of them cannot be compiled.

        We will now pass on to such matters of interest concerning the general history of the county as we have been able to gather. This subject will be considered in such a manner as to locate the years in which the events occurred.

        1859.—The first event of importance during this year was the organization of the county and the establishment of a county government. The first election occurred in May of this year, and the location of a county scat was also voted upon, resulting in the selection of Ukiah, in preference to Calpella, which was its only competitor for the honor. A reference to the table incorporated in the political history will discover who were elected to fill the respective offices. The opposing candidates were as follows: for county judge, "Kedge" Wilson and E. J. Mann; for county clerk, William A. Kendall and C. H. Veeder; for sheriff, — McClintock ; and for treasurer, J. P. Smith. The first Court-house was also erected during this year. The rate of taxation for this year was $1.65.

        1860-61.—Nothing of great importance seems to have occurred during these two years. The first paper published in the county was issued in 1860, by Hon. E. R. Budd.

        1862.—During this year Federal licenses were issued to the following named persons, which will serve well to show what business enterprises were conducted at that time, and who was engaged in them: Retail dealers, F. Bassett-Sturenberg, Derby & Adams, Fletcher & Kenedy, G. W. Gibson & Co., I. Isaac & Co., J. R. Moore, Perkins & Warden, T. P. Smythe, Townsend & Brown, L. E. White & Co., W. E. Connor, R. K. Dodge, S. W. Hills, James A. Hamilton, J. B. Hargrave, Kelley & Rundle, John W. Morris, I. C. Reed, Snider & Asbill, L. Woodward, Wintzer & Welle, and H. W. Wichelhausen; retail liquor dealers, F. Bassett-Sturenberg, Briggs & Moore, Derby & Adams, Fletcher & Kenedy, McMullen & Hunter, Osborn & Heldt, L. Woodward, L. E. White & Co., W. E. Connor, J. E. Carlson, J. B. Hargrave, I. Isaac & Co., P. Padden, F. E. Warren, and H. Wichelhausen; billiard saloons, J. H. Briggs and J. E. Carlson; livery stables, J. V. Caldwell, Fox & Williams, and Osborn & Heldt; hotels, R. M. Barham, A. Higgins, Harrison Standley, Simpson & White, J. C. Davis, William Henry, A. McDonald, J. H. Siddons, and Osborn & Heldt; physicians, A. C. Folsom, E. M. Pierson, James T. Hall, and G. W. Sargent; lawyers, William Neeley Johnson, R. McGarvey, C. H. Veeder, William Holden, J. B, Lamar, and M. D. Wilson; apothecary, George B. Mathers; brewer, Harry Kier; cattle brokers, William Shoemake and W. R. Lane.

        1863.—During this year there was some excitement about a railroad from Ukiah to the tide-water of San Francisco bay. A correspondent of the Herald, under date of February 27th, says: "The interests of our section seem to demand a more regular and speedy communication with the great commercial metropolis of our State, and, as I have been informed that there is now a proposition to this and Sonoma counties, by which with a slight effort, we can procure a railroad, we feel it to be the duty of all citizens to use their means and energy for the furtherance of the noble enterprise. If it is only carried into execution it is destined to be the making of our county, for although the richness and fertility of our soil is at present unappreciated and unknown, yet it is this great internal improvement which will give us a local habitation and a name in the commercial world. We have as fine pastures as the world can afford, but we are too far from market, we are compelled to drive our stock either through clouds of dust, or fabulous depths of mud, making the job neither profitable nor agreeable, and after we arrive at market we find that our expenses have not only been very great, but our stock is greatly depreciated in weight, and consequently in value. And again, the immense wealth that is now housed up in the rugged cañons of the Coast Range in the way of timber is destined some day, and that too in the not very far future, to attract the attention and admiration of the State. Timber is even now getting to be an important item, and as its consumption is continually increasing, both for fuel and building purposes, the timber skirting the San Francisco bay and the rivers will soon be consumed, and the demand become so excessively great that this one commodity, will be sufficient to warrant the construction of a railroad into some of the timbered sections."

        In 1863 quite an interest was manifested among the farmers of Ukiah valley in the industry of tobacco culture. Over seven hundred acres were planted with that crop alone in that section.

        During this year there was a great deal of excitement about the discovery of gold in several localities, both in placer diggings and in quartz ledges.

        In May of this year there was a company of volunteers organized under the leadership of Captain John P. Simpson, for the United States service. It was as fine a body of men as could be found in any county in the State. They were forty strong, rank and file, and were mustered in June 12th, and ordered to the Humboldt District to fight Indians. They were designated as Company E, Second Regular California Volunteers.

        Oats were grown in Potter valley this year which were eight feet in height, and wheat grew six feet high, on the place owned by Mr. George McCowan.

        The copper mining excitement got to a white heat during this year, owing to the finding of rich specimens of copper bearing ore both at Sanel and Point Arena.

        The entire county was thrown into a state of excitement and grief by the announcement that Sheriff William H. Tainter had been drowned at Elk creek, near its mouth, October 23, 1863. This is a small stream opening into the ocean about eight miles south of Nevarra, and as it was in the days before there were any bridges, Mr. Tainter evidently lost his life in attempting to ford the stream. At the usual place of crossing it was about sixty feet wide, and ten feet deep. Mr. Tainter was an excellent swimmer, and mounted on a horse in which he had the utmost confidence, which facts led some to suspect foul play, but as there were no marks of violence perceptible, and he was possessed of all his valuables when found, it is evident that his death was accidental. His body was brought to Ukiah via Mendocino City for interment.

        1864.—In April of this year the Mendocino and Humboldt Indian districts were combined, and Honorable A. Wiley appointed superintendent.

        The tobacco crop mentioned above proved to be a great success, as the following from a local print under date of April 26th, will testify: "Within a radius of three miles of Ukiah there were forty thousand pounds of tobacco raised last year (1863). In passing through the country one is reminded of old Virginia by the number of tobacco barns that are already built, for the drying and curing of the weed. The quality of the Mendocino county tobacco is said by the best of judges, to be second to none that is grown in the Eastern States, the leaf being of exceedingly fine texture and very thin, and very broad and long. We look forward to no great distant day when tobacco will be extensively grown in Mendocino."

        Corn was grown in large quantities in the Russian River valley during this year, the yield being large, and the quality excellent.

        The people of Mendocino county, especially the southern portion of it were very much exercised over the publication on October 4th, of the following rumor concerning the division of the county: "It has several times been intimated that certain parties in the northern portion of the county were operating in bringing about a division of the county, by drawing a line from east to west, passing through somewhere near Calpella, making some point in Long valley the county seat. The proposed new county will contain the townships of Calpella, Little Lake, Round Valley, and a portion of Big River."

        In November of this year, auxiliary societies of the Sanitary Commission, were organized in several places in the county, notably in Ukiah, Calpella Potter Valley, Little Lake, and Albion. The last named society sent in $320 for the month of December.

        1865.—The principal event that occurred in the United States doing this year and the one that shook the nation from center to circumference, was the cold-blooded murder of the President, Abraham Lincoln, by J. Wilkes Booth. It was a matter so fraught with interest to the United States as a whole, to every State in it, to every county in every State, and every citizen of the nation that we devote a portion of our space to the consideration of the subject.

" Mantle your hearts with gloom,

Mantle your hearts with deepest gloom!

Listen! a nation is weeping;

Valor and worth have sunk in the tomb

While for your liberty seeking.

Weep, weep, with a holy tear

Over the hero now sleeping;

Cherish his name with endless prayer.

Angels are bitterly weeping.

Finish the work he labored to do,

Striving to save you from sorrow;
Leave not the post he's trusted to you,

Leave not a deed for the morrow.

Mourn! the Saviour of Liberty's gone

Gone to the throne of the mighty,

Pleading for you as ever he's done

Fervently, boldly, and rightly."

        How well we all remember the sad, sad days of the long and dreary hour of our nation's peril, when brother met brother on the wild field of carnage, and the blood of our noblest men was poured out like water, on the shrine of the nation's altar. How our pulses throbbed with exultant joy when victory perched on our banners, and how our hearts sank within us when our flag was trailed in the dust. Oh, the bitter hatred, the malice that existed then between the once happy members of our great family ! And why? Because men who, in their brazen effrontery had set themselves up as leaders, had said that it must be so. The heart of the mass of the people is always right, and it is only the ambitious, frenzied leader that goes astray, and sometimes the people follow not knowing or caring why or whither. Those were years of struggling, of slaying and being slain, years of mortal agony, of tears, of woes, of veritable sackcloth and ashes. The flower of manhood was being sacrificed; yea, immolated to the god of war, and our fair country was rent and torn, and devastation had hovered over all sections, until all the glory of her former self was obliterated, and only the gaunt figure of despair was to be seen anywhere. But the dreary night had ended, and already the bright, effulgent rays of the dawning day of peace were bursting forth and flooding and bathing the land with its gracious and limpid light, and the Angel of Harmony was passing over the distraught land with healings on his wings. On the 9th day of April, 1865, the two greatest armies then engaged in the conflict had met face to face, and clasped glad hands across the bloody chasm, and had sealed the articles of capitulation with many a shout and song. When the word went down the lines to cease firing, and the truce flag was seen flying at the headquarters of the Southern army, what a shout of joy rent the air ! Arms that were no more to carry death and destruction to the brother's heart were cast aside as needless burdens, and hands that had sought to imbrue themselves in other's blood were clasped in a close and warm grasp, knowing and feeling that the fearful struggle was at an end. The bands played, and every man in those long lines, who not an hour before had fought as only men of valor fight, now joined in one triumphal song of thanksgiving and praise, and

"Praise God from whom all blessings flow,

Praise him all creatures here below,

Praise him above ye heavenly host,

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost."

Had gone up to the throne of the Almighty in such a volume, and with such a heart-felt gratitude, as it never went before, and probably never will again. And the glorious news had spread abroad that there was to be peace again; and that all our great and noble country was to be one and inseparable hereafter;

"For many days we've waited

To hail the day of peace

When our land should be united,

And wars and strife should cease."

        The light of that memorable morning was rosy and soft with a radiance of peace. Every patriot's heart swelled with emotion too deep for utterance. It was not so much the thrill of victory that caused this deep and widespread rejoicing; it was the consciousness that we were about to reap the fruits of victory. It was something more than a promise—something more than a hope—it was a full and perfect realization. And it had all come now, and the happy dreams of all those years were just being consummated —but hark ! what sound is this that breaks suddenly on the ear of the joyous multitudes, sharp, distinct at first, but deepening into the ominous roar of the mighty car of Jupiter, until it reverberates from every mountain side and along every valley in the land ! It is the crack of the assassin's pistol, as it sends a fatal bullet crashing through the brain of the chief magistrate of the newly blood-bought Union. April 14, 1865, only five short days since first the opposing armies sang their song of mutual thanksgiving and praise for a day of peace, and they, with all the nation, are called upon to bow their heads with a grief inexpressibly great, and to shed tears for the mighty friend of both, who now lies cold in the chill embrace of death; who had passed from us

"Like a swift-fleeting meteor, a fast-flying cloud,

A flash of the lightning, a break of the wave."

        Yes, Abraham Lincoln, he who had proved himself to be the very chosen of God to pilot the nation over the great and perilous ocean of an internecine war, and had so gallantly and grandly brought the good old ship of state safely to anchor in the haven of peace, was dead. And what was gained by this infamous crime? Did John Wilkes Booth win the heartfelt thanks of the great body of our Southern brothers with whom we had so lately been at war? No ! is answered back in thunder tones from every true noble-minded man who ever donned the "Gray" and smelled the powder, and heard the hum of the bullet sent on its mission of destruction by the "Blue." Then how much more righteously and intensely must the "Blue" loathe and despise, beyond expression, the deed ! Well indeed has it been said by some one, that "the deep damnation of his murder is a crime second only to that before which the sun did hide his face and the vail of the temple was rent in twain."

        To show and perpetuate to future generations what was thought of the assassination in Mendocino county, we have appended the following extracts from the papers of that day. The Mendocino Weekly Democrat of April 22, 1865, which was appropriately dressed in mourning, says, editorially: "Had an infernal machine been dropped in the town of Ukiah on Monday last it could not have caused more surprise and horror than did a small package of Sonoma Democrat extras, containing the startling tidings of the assassination of the President. This feeling was shown by all; we noticed that the faces of Democrats and Republicans alike wore a look of gloom. Everybody endeavored to reason themselves into a belief that the story was false, but could urge no satisfactory reason for the conclusion. Arriving, too, at a time when all expected tidings of peace, it was a sad transition from joyous expectancy to receive instead tidings of murder—and the victim the chief magistrate of the nation. At this time it is impossible to arrive at any conclusion as to the cause of the assassination. The event is so terrible in its character that even the feeling for vengeance upon the murderer is partly sunk in the general gloom. Abraham Lincoln was not our choice, but he was our president, as much so as if we had formed one of the millions that cast their ballots for him, and we feel as deeply and keenly the national loss. We are the more pained because at the time he was struck down by the bullet of the assassin, he had inaugurated a patriotic policy which all citizens united in commending. In whatever manner we view his death, it is most calamitous at this time. We have no fears that the authorities will fail in their duty of sifting this tragic affair to the bottom, and if it proves to be the result of a conspiracy, as we believe it to be, we trust that sure and swift retribution will reach, not only the assassin, but the conspirators."

        The Herald of that date had also inverted column rules, thus showing respect for the martyred President. It said, editorially: "There is much in this matter to strike deep terror to the hearts of American citizens too horrible to contemplate. We are at a loss to know the object of the desperadoes who committed this unparalleled crime. Certainly it was not committed without an object. Had it been done six months ago, or even six weeks ago, it might have made such confusion in the Government as to give the rebellion strength. But since the recent victories, it can hardly be expected that such results will follow, unless by arousing the passions of partizans in the North to bring about neighboring collisions all over the country. In the name of humanity, are there men base enough, just at the time when peace was about once more to settle upon our already war-ridden country, thus to carry another firebrand broadcast over the land ? This enormous crime has deprived the world of the best, the kindest, as well as one of the ablest, if not the ablest chief magistrate that ever ruled over a great people, while in the very act of extending mercy and pardon to the country's enemies. A sublimer instance of wisdom, mercy and forgiveness for injuries past and wrongs threatened, never but once was witnessed — never will be again — and that was when He who spake as never man spake, looked from the cross on which he was then to perish, and said

'Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.' Verily, they know not what they do,' for were a thousand rulers chosen in his place, there is no probability that one of them would deal as gently and as charitably with disloyal subjects as the great and good man whom they have. slain."

        The Herald contained the following, copied from the Call, which is so worthy a tribute to the memory of the great Lincoln that we reproduce it here: "While the individual and national heart, benumbed by the terrible blow which has fallen, almost ceases to beat, and men stand amazed at the hideousness of the great crime, it is difficult to speak the right words, fitting and equal to the occasion. The nation stands aghast at the fearful tragedy. From the very height of joy the people are cast down under the pressure of a great agony. At the very moment when all began to rejoice at the prospect and promise of returning peace — happy in the thought that the scenes of bloodshed and fraternal strife were about ended; while all the angel in man's nature began to grow and expand, and charity and forgiveness was blossoming for a harvest of better things, comes this most fiendish act, its wickedness equalled only by its folly; for Mr. Lincoln was, as has truly been said, the only man on the continent who stood between the leaders of the Rebellion and the halter. In him dwelt the most kindly heart that ever beat in human bosom. During all the dreadful scenes of the past four years he has never been reported as saying an angry word, not a syllable that intimated a revengeful feeling or gave indication of a desire for vengeance, passed his lips or his pen. Reviled by the rebel leaders and the rebel masses, as perhaps never man was before; denounced and belied by the Northern sympathizers of the Rebellion, if possible, with greater malignity and falsehood than even the open rebels used, he bore it all calmly and heroically like a philosopher, statesman, Christian, and steadily exhibited through all his acts and conversation that to simply perform the duties he owed to his country in the most effective manner, and with the least suffering to all, was his great and only motive.

        "Himself and Mr. Seward were the most conservative men of the Administration; the two of all from whom the defeated rebels had most reason, as they had most need, to hope for leniency. If it be possible for men to possess goodness in excess, Mr. Lincoln had, of all men, that fault. He desired to save, not destroy. He never deceived a friend; he never betrayed a trust. He deserted no principle, violated no obligation, shirked no responsibility. He was a true man in its best sense, who, although he hated the Rebellion, did not hate the rebels. Among his latest words were expressions of kindness towards Lee and others; and from him alone could they expect leniency. Such was his hold upon the popular heart of the North, such their confidence in his integrity, such their reliance upon the soundness of his judgment and patriotic motives, that had he issued a proclamation of amnesty to all, even Jefferson Davis, the millions of the North would have said, amen; and yet they killed him ! assassinated him as the principal figure of the group decided upon as victims by the hellish brood, a portion only of whose plan is seen in the deed, for the tragedy is no isolated act of sudden frenzy. It was preconcerted, and only too successful. His death was compassed in the very morning of victory, while he was happy in the thought that his country was saved, sacrificing his own wish that the public may be gratified, beloved by his countrymen, having forced from unwilling foreign enemies the eulogium of administration with singleness of purpose and freedom from passion, he passed suddenly away in the midst of his usefulness, having fought the good fight and left in the hearts of all true men an undying and a grateful memory."

        But the agony, turmoil, animosity, hatred, and strife of that day are all gone, and truly the sweet pinioned dove of love has cemented more firmly than ever, the two sections of our nation, and the two great armies which were wont to meet on bloody fields of carnage are now brothers, indeed, and the silver of the "Gray" is commingled with the "Blue" like stars set upon the dome of Heaven, and one thought and purpose animates us all, and one flag floats over us all, and the stain of slavery has been washed from our fair escutcheon. And now, looking back on the career of the noble Lincoln, be we "Blue" or "Gray," what do we see? We see simply all that was wisest and most faithful in his most perilous magistracy. A halo rests upon his character, and we find no longer anything to blame, scarcely anything not to admire in the measures and counsel of his gloriously upright, impartial, passionless, indiscourageable rule. The tragic close of his life added a new element, and set him in a character only the more sublime, because it was original and quite unmatched in history. The great name now of Abraham Lincoln emerges complete, a power of blessing on mankind, and a bond of homage in the feeling of his country forever. Second to none in glory or greatness, worthy to be set forth in letters of living light beside that other name we all love, honor and cherish. Let it so be then

WASHINGTON, OUR COUNTRY'S FATHER,
 

LINCOLN, OUR COUNTRY'S SAVIOR.

"Lincoln! when men would name a man,

Just, unperturbed, and magnanimous,

Tried in the lowest seat of all,

Tried in the chief seat of the house‑

Lincoln! when men would name a man

Who wrought the great work of the age,

Who fought, and. fought the noblest tight,
And marshalled it from stage to stage.

Victorious, out of dusk and dark,

And into dawn, and on till day,

Most humble when the peans rang,

Least rigid when the enemy lay

Prostrated for the feet to tread

The name of Lincoln will we name,

A name revered, a name of scorn,
No, not of scorn, but of fame.

Lincoln! the name that freed the slave,

Lincoln! whom never self-enticed;

Slain Lincoln, worthy found to die

A soldier of the Captain, Christ."

        On the night of June 14th of this year, the books of the County Treasurer were stolen, and the next morning, their burned and charred remains were found within four hundred yards of the Court-house. No reason could be assigned at the time for this peculiar freak of burglary, except that the books were being overhauled by a committee appointed by the Board of Supervisors.

        In June, 1865, Company E Second Regular California Volunteers was mustered out of service.

        In this year the sum of $3,569.72 was paid into the State Treasury by the Treasurer of Mendocino county.

        In those early days, the rulings and doings of some of the Justices of the Peace were certainly quaint and unique. For instance, in November, 1865, while a case was being tried before a Justice in Calpella township in a bar-room, the Court and spectators were amused and astonished by the abrupt and noisy entrance of an honest and unsuspecting Dutchman, who inquired of "Jim " (his Honor on the bench) if he had any vegetables to sell. On receiving a negative answer, the Teuton turned away as abruptly as he had entered, thereupon the officer in attendance approached the court and asked whether that fellow hadn't ought to be brought up for contempt?" The Court thought he had, whereupon the offender was followed, and brought back a prisoner. One of the counsel present advocated his conviction, while two others argued for his acquittal. He was adjudged guilty, but the Magistrate moved by a kindly spirit, only sentenced him to treat the crowd, and then took a recess that he might himself attend the bar, and the offender paid his fine.

        Among other queer doings which are reported to have transpired in those primitive courts, the following are the brightest. A Justice of the Peace once sentenced a man to a term in the State's prison, and the constable of the township had proceeded as far as Cloverdale with his prisoner, before he became aware that he had no authority to keep the man in his charge or commit him to prison. Among the very first Justices appointed for Mendocino county, before it was disassociated from Sonoma, was a man named Taylor. He once fined a man for getting drunk, and the penalty was that the offender should split a thousand rails. It is said that the man did his work well, and that the rails served a good purpose in constructing corrals about Taylor's place. That same Taylor refused a letter at the office once because it was addressed Mr. Taylor, his excuse for the refusal being that Mr. spelled Mur, and that was not his name. His daughter happened to stand by, and proceeded to enlighten the old man, stating that the Mr. stood for Mister. When he realized that some one had conferred the dignity upon him of placing a "handle" before his name, he was more than delighted. But from that day on, he was called "Mur" Taylor, and will now go down to history by that name, as we know no other to give him.

        Later—By referring to the official records of Sonoma county, we find that in 1856, one Simon Taylor was a Justice for one of the Mendocino townships, and it is quite probable that this is the man.

        It is said that there was a Justice once in Anderson valley, who, upon a lawyer insinuating that the court was possessed of asinine properties to a great degree, arose in the midst of his deliberations of the case under consideration, and proceeded to chastise the offending attorney, and the matter was only quieted down and peace regained by a pleasant parry on the part of the lawyer and a call for drinks all around.

        On the coast, there was a Justice who also had a bar, which by the way, seemed to be the rule in those days, and the sessions of the court were held in the bar-room. When a case was to be tried, he would draw a chalk line through the middle of the room parallel with the bar, and on one side of that line was the court-room, and on the other the bar, and during the sessions of the court, when a recess was had to take a little strengthening soda water, he would allow no man to stand over the line of the court-room and drink. It is said that he was a man of sense and dignity, and maintained order and decorum during the sessions of his court.

        But these curious proceedings were not at all confined to the pioneer days nor to primitive Justices. During the present year a case was called before, a Justice in which there were two plaintiffs and one defendant. During the trial a recess was taken, and the parties to the suit got into a general scrimmage right in the court-room. The attention of the Justice and the constable was called to the fact that a fight was going on, and they rushed back to the scene of the encounter, but upon discovering that the defendant was getting the best of the matter single-handed against both of the plaintiffs they refused to interfere.

        1866. February 15th, the safe of the County Treasurer, J. W. Morris, was broken into and the sum of $4,226.20 abstracted therefrom under the following circumstances: The County Treasurer, Mr. John W. Morris was sitting in his office reading, about 8 P. M., when the footsteps of two men were heard approaching along the hall. The parties stopped at his door and knocked, and he invited them in, thinking that they were some of his friends calling for a chat, as was frequently the case, as he spent most of his evenings in the office. The door opened and two masked men entered, locked the door behind them, seized, bound and gagged him, and then proceeded to possess themselves of the keys to the safe, opening which they abstracted the money. They were not in the office more than five minutes, and as they went out they put the key on the outside and locked the door. Mr. Morris managed to rid himself of the gag, and called for help, which, being heard by passersby, they came to his assistance, and he was released from his fastenings. Immediate search was made for the robbers, but no trace could be found of them. Mr. Morris at once surrendered to his bondsmen property enough to more than cover the amount that was stolen if he or they should be called upon to repay the loss. The entire affair remains shrouded in a deep mystery to this day, and no trace whatever was ever found of the robbers.

        In June of this year a petition was sent to the Indian Agent to have all the Indians in Potter valley moved to the reservation at Round valley. At that time the tribe numbered about two hundred, and the petitioners were prompted chiefly by the fact becoming apparent that the presence of the Indians produced a demoralizing effect upon the health and morals of the rising generation in that section.

        In October of this year those parcels of land situated within the limits of the Yokayo grant, which had been located upon by parties who were unable to pay the grant owners for them, were sold at public auction.

        The following statistics have been collated for the year 1866, and by comparing them with those for 1880, which will be found further on, the material growth and progress of the county can be appreciated :—